Readers complain of more problems on the school run

Gillian Loney

Parking chaos at the school gates has you talking — and not just about Newton Mearns.

As reported in last week’s Extra, parents at Mearns Primary are up in arms over ongoing traffic problems at the school gates — kicking off with a school bus blocked in on the first day back.

One mum has launched a petition, calling on East Renfrewshire Council to introduce additional yellow lines.

A spokeswoman for East Renfrewshire Council responded that “back to school day is always a busier than usual time”, and added: “We would urge members of the public to park and drive responsibly and respect parking restrictions around schools.

“The safety of our children is a priority and we would ask everyone to work with us on this.”

But reader response suggests that parking problems extend to other schools too.

Twitter follower @craigGFT1 said: “You should have a look at St Cadoc’s on Crookfur Road. [It’s] a tragedy waiting to happen on a one way street.”

@PerseveringGolf added: “Glad to see you are reporting. It needs followed up — @EastRenCouncil need to take action with offenders before there is a tragedy. I’ve witnessed cars mounting small pavements with six-year-olds cowering in fear..”

Over on Facebook, David McClelland said: “ERC do nothing to discourage car use for the school run. At Eastwood Toll, in response to complaints about cars parking on the pavement to drop kids off, they’ve built a bollard drop off zone on the pavement!”